Glasscott suggested Kristoffer Reitan at +750 as a deep Top-20 option. The 27-year-old Norwegian has rocketed up the OWGR thanks to a six-week run on the DP World Tour that produced a win (Soudal Open), a T2, a T4, and two T13s. At the Genesis Scottish Open he finished ninth in SG: Tee-to-Green and fourth in proximity before grabbing T13 money. Those recent statistics signal elite ball control, and Glasscott believes the current heater is worth a speculative play at nearly 8-to-1.

For another Top-20 wager, Glasscott touted Justin Rose at +280. Rose closed with a sizzling 63 for solo sixth at The Renaissance Club and already owns a T2 at last year’s Open at Royal Troon. With a proven links resume and clear momentum, Glasscott expects the English veteran’s ball-striking to translate into another profitable major finish, making +280 attractive compared with similarly priced peers.

Glasscott highlighted Taylor Pendrith at +400 for a Top-20 finish. The Canadian has cashed in 15 of 19 starts this season, including seven straight, with signature results of T5 at the PGA Championship and T9 at Pebble Beach. He prepped with a T13 at the Genesis Scottish Open where he ranked T7 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee—matching his season-long strength. Although making his Open debut, Pendrith’s driving prowess and recent spike in major performance led Glasscott to target the plus money top-20 market.

In the six-man seniors pool, Glasscott backed Padraig Harrington at +200 to finish highest among players 50+. The Irishman owns two Claret Jugs (2007, 2008) and showed current form by making the cut in Scotland last week. Harrington has cashed in three of his last four Open starts and, according to Glasscott, is better equipped for Portrush’s likely wind and rain than Phil Mickelson (+260) or Stewart Cink (+300). The grinder mentality and recent competitive reps on both PGA TOUR Champions and the main TOUR underpin the pick.

Glasscott passed on shorter-priced countrymen Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton and instead went "all-in" on Matt Fitzpatrick at +600 to be Top English player. He noted Fitzpatrick’s surge that began with a T8 at the PGA Championship—his first TOUR top-10 of 2025—and has continued with seven straight made cuts capped by finishes of T17, T8, and T4 over the past three events. The Sheffield native’s trending irons and putter, plus his proven major pedigree, convinced Glasscott the +600 number offers the best risk-reward in this prop.

Mike Glasscott recommended backing Rory McIlroy at +200 to be the Top U.K. and Ireland finisher at Royal Portrush. Glasscott argued that McIlroy arrives in peak form after a near-miss at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open and a season highlighted by completing the career Grand Slam at Augusta. Returning to his home course, the Holywood native will have massive crowd support and, in Glasscott’s view, can now "let it rip without remorse" after securing the only major that had eluded him. The market covers 29 players, yet Glasscott believes course familiarity, current tee-to-green sharpness, and the motivational bounce of 2019’s missed cut make McIlroy deserved chalk despite short odds.

At +2800, Tommy Fleetwood was highlighted by Glasscott as the best non-major winner inside 30-1. The Englishman finished runner-up (six shots behind Shane Lowry) when Portrush last staged the Open in 2019 and has logged three top-10s in his past five editions of the championship. Fleetwood’s comfort on linksy, wind-swept layouts combined with a rock-solid tee-to-green profile makes him a logical breakthrough candidate. Glasscott reminded bettors that Brian Harman’s 2023 triumph marked the fifth straight first-time major winner at this event, so history supports rolling the dice on Fleetwood finally converting.

Glasscott called Xander Schauffele an attractive play at +2500 to defend the claret jug. Even though his current season features just two top-10s, he led last week’s Genesis Scottish Open in SG: Approach on his way to T8, hinting that his iron game is peaking at the right time. Schauffele’s major reliability is elite: 30 made cuts and 16 top-10s in 33 starts, capped by last year’s Open win at Royal Troon. A victory would make him the first back-to-back Champion Golfer since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08 (Tiger Woods did it in 2005-06). Glasscott suggested the market is over-reacting to middling regular-season form and is undervaluing elite major consistency.

Glasscott urged caution on Bryson DeChambeau at +2000. While the two-time U.S. Open champion owns a sparkling recent major résumé—one win and four other top-six finishes in his last seven majors—his Open Championship record is poor: just one top-10 (T8 in 2022) and only four weekends made in seven tries. He missed the cut the last time Portrush hosted and failed to reach the weekend again last summer. Glasscott emphasized that the 7,282-yard, par-71 Dunluce Links exposes players who rely solely on power, warning that “science faces off against Mother Nature” this week. Given the volatility, he implied the number is too short relative to better links specialists on the board.

Glasscott backed Rory McIlroy at +700, noting that the Masters champion returns to Royal Portrush as a different player than the one who famously missed the cut here in 2019. The Northern Irishman arrives off back-to-back top-six finishes, including a share of second last week in Scotland where he led the field in Proximity and Scrambling and ranked 5th in SG: Putting. Those short-game numbers matter on the Dunluce Links’ tiny greens and penal run-offs. With his 30th career TOUR title still just two shots away last Sunday, Glasscott believes the 2014 Champion Golfer is “poised to pounce in his boyhood backyard,” making the +700 price acceptable despite being the second choice.

Mike Glasscott said Scottie Scheffler fully deserves his spot atop the FanDuel board at +470. The World No. 1 just ran his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to 10 with a T8 at the Genesis Scottish Open, knocking off what little rust he might have had. He also leads the TOUR in every major ball-striking metric—SG: Total, Off-the-Tee, Approach and Tee-to-Green—so his floor is as high as it gets. Scheffler is making his fifth straight Open start; while it is the only major where he hasn’t finished on the podium, he owns a T7 (2024) and T8 (2021) at the championship, showing the links learning curve is behind him. Glasscott framed the number as short but still playable because you are buying the most bankable form in the sport on a course where wind and firm turf reward ball-striking precision.